Oil-well apparatus.



W. H. COOPER.

OIL WELL APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 2. |918.

l ,272,625. l Patented July 16, 918.

WITN ESS TED srnfrns Arana onirica.

OIL-WELL APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 1918.

Application led May 2, 1918. Serial No. 232,127.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it. known that I, WALDREN H. COOPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sistersville, county of Tyler, and State of lVest Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Well Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to oil well apparatus, and is adapted for use in connection with the usual type of oil well pump which, generally speaking, embodies an outer casing and an inner tube through which oil and gas are induced to flow from the oil bearing sand by meansof a working valve operated by 'suitable mechanism.

Heretofore, it has been the practice to connect a vacuum line to the outer casing in order to recover gas collecting therein, but this practice has resulted in considerable valve trouble, necessitating cessation of the pumping operations and the pulling of the tubing and repairing of valves,-with a view of endeavoring toi rectify the trouble.

Apart from the inconvenience and expense involved 1n So doing, air would inevitably become present in the gas in sufiicient fquantities to seriously interfere with the making of the gasolene. Air would also leak through the joints of the tubing into the casing, and obviously so in view of the casing being under a vacuum and atmospheric pressure existing in the tubing. This difference in pressure placed an additional burden upon the valves and involved additional work in an endeavor to equalize the fluid levels in the casing and tubing, which was relatively higher in the former, and due to this condition valve trouble resulted.

The principal objects of my. invention are to provide means for placing the tubing under a vacuum as well as the casing, prefer- -ably equalized in terms of inches, whereby the above recited disadvantages are wholly eliminated and the eiiciency and utility of the well apparatus therefore materially increased; and to rovide separating means ancillary to the a oresaid means designed to increase the saving in gas and to advantageously separate gas from the oil for the making of gasolene in a more economic and convenlent manner. l

These, together with such other objects as will hereinafter appear or are incident 'to my invention, I attain by means of a construction illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1\ illustrates my invention applied to an oil well pump, the vacuum separating tank being adapted for use with wells situated at an elevation in hilly country; and Fig. 2 is a modification of the separating means where the well is located in level country.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, 3 indicates the outer casing and 4 the inner tubing of the pump, the latter being provided with a barrel 5 designed to reach down to the oil bearing sand and having a working valve 6, of any desired construction, adapted to be reciprocated in the bar.- rel 5 by means of a sucker rod 7. The inner and outer chambers of the pump are respectively designated by the numerals 8 and 9. 10 is a vacuum line designed to be associated at its -outer end with any suitable vacuum mechanism, as a vacuum pump (not shown), and whose inner end extends into the head ll of the casing and communicates with the chamber 9, in order to I'ecover whatever gas may collect in said chamber. As already indicated, such construction represents present practice in the oil well industry, and as such has been provocative of considerable valve trouble to which attention has already been directed.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a vacuum line 12 whose inner end is associated with the extension 8a of the tubing 8 at a point just below the stuliing box 13 which then constitutes thehead of the tubing. This extensionI 8a extends upwardly through the head 11 and has a tight it 1n it. The pipe section 14 forms part of the vacuum line 12k and is connected at 14:a with'Y the vacuum line l0. The reference numeral 15 designates a separating tank whose upper end is interposed in the suction line 12 and is provided, if' desired, with a Safety valve 16.

From the above construction it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that in the event of a Suction or pull being exerted in Vacuum lines l0 and 12, both bein connected to the same vacuum forming evice, that such suction or pull will simultaneously be effective and equalized in chambers 8 and 9 of the well, and thereby simplify and render more easy the operation of the working valve 6 when actuated. Upon actuation of upwardly,

the valve any gas collecting in chamber 9 will be carried alon line 10, and at the same time the oil, an gas with it, will flow upwardly through the tubing 8 and thence horizontally through the vacuum line 12 into the tank 15, whereupon the gas rising to the upper portion of the tank w1ll be carried along the conduit 14 and join with the gas which has been carried through the line 10 in a direction toward the vacuum forming device. If there is any water present with the oil it will find its own level at the bottom of tank 15 with the oil superposed upon it, and suitable means may be provided to discharge or carry off in separate conduits the oil and water thus separated. y

In connection with the means for withdrawing the oil, and also the water if there be any, I provide means effective during such `withdrawal designed to maintain the vacuum in the tank and to offset the action of the vacuum with respect to such with-` drawal, said means comprising an oil discharge pipe 17 which extends from the oil level downwardly to a drain 18 and thence as 19, to a similar manner I provide the water outlet pipe 20, which in turn has embodied with it a drain 21 and an upwardly extending pipe 22, thus forming a water seal, the outer end of said pipe 22 preferably being formed with an adjustable swing pipe 4outlet 23, both of said discharging means being of such length as to overcome the action of the vacuum by providing a slug of oil and water in the respective seals upon which the vacuum would have no lifting eect. In Fig. 1 of the drawings, I have indicated the preferred lengths of outlet pipes expressed in terms of feet, 4and this is true in the case of the modification illustrated in Fig. 2, in which the tank is formed in two parts, connected by an intermediate pipe 24,7the upper part 152L being interposed as before in the suction line 12, and the lower part 15 which receives the oil, and water if there be any, is provided with the oil outlet 17 a vand water outlet 20a, .the modification being adapted for wells located in level country,

and if desired, may be associated or sup' vported against the usual derrick structure.

By maintaining a vacuum in the vacuum separating tank, a reater percentage of gas is liberated from ,t e oil, and this together with the gas that was already available in both the chambers 8 and 9 are thus collected for utilization in the manufacture of gasolene in an. advantageous and economical manner, and this supply of gas may be readily increased by placing in the tank a heating coil 25. The principal object, however, of my invention is the equalization thus provided for in both the chambers 8 and 9, and the consequent equalization of form an oil seal, and 1n pump,

the oil level with reference to said chambers and the elimination of valve troubles and leakage from one chamber to the other. In the event that the oil flows through the casing 3, a by-pass 25 may be provided to connect the lines 10 and 12, and this by-pass is normally closed by the valve 26. The numeral 27 designates a valve inline 10 which, when the by-pass is intended to be used, may be closed and the valve 26 opened. In such case the casing and tubing are both directly connected as a suction medium to the tank 15, the gas collecting in the tank being carried along pipe 14 and thence to the suction forming device as before. I may also provide the suction line with a check valve 28 in order to prevent back-flow into the separating tank 15 upon any temporary cessation of the operation of the vacuum forming device.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of an oil well pump, a suction line serving to conduct a flow of oil and gas therefrom, and means associated' with said line-for separating the oil from the gas, said line operative as a pressure reduction means for said pump.

2. In oil well apparatus, the combination of a pump, an oil and gas conducting line leading from said pump, means connected with said line for maintaining a vacuum in said pump, and means for separating the oil from the -gas in said line.

3.,The combination with an oil well gas conductor, and a separator therefor, the

other part of said line serving as a conductor for the separated gas.

4. The combination with an oil well pump, of a vacuum line leading therefrom, one part of said line constituting an oil and gas conductor, and a separator therefor, the other part of said line serving as a conductorfor the separated gas, said line operative as a pressure reduction means for the pump and said separator. j

5. The combination with an oil well of pressure reducing means therefor including a vacuum line adapted to conduct a flow of gas and oil from said pump, a separator tank Vinterposed in said line and designed to separate and receive the oil from said line, and means for applying heat to the oil in said tank.

6. The combination of an oil well pump having inner and outer'chambers, and pressure equalizing means vfor said chambers comprising a suction line organized tov conduct gas and oil fromfsaid pump.

7 The combination of an oil well pump having inner and outer chambers, and pressure reduction and equalizing means therefor embodying a vacuum line connected with said chambers, part of said line constructed and arranged to conduct a flow of gas and oil from one of said chambers.

8. The combination of an oil well pump having inner and outer chambers, and pressure reduction and equalizing means therefor embodying a vacuum line connected with said chambers, part of said line constructed and arranged to conduct a flow of gas land oil from one of said chambers and provided with means for separating the oil from the gas.

9. The combination of an oil Well pump having a plurality of chambers, pressure reduction means for said chambers comprising a two-part suction line leading to said pump, and an oil 'receiving tank in said line.

10.- The combination of an oil Well pump\I I having a pluralty'of chambers, pressure reduction means for said chambers compris-v pump, of a pressure reduction and equaliz- ,ing means therefor embodying a vacuum line wherein suction is employed to conduct a flow of 11qu1d and gas from sald pump, a vacuum separating tank mterposed 1n said line and operating to receive the Huid from said line, and tubular means constructed to conduct the separated fluid from the tank without impairing the vacuum maintained in the line and tank.

VVALDREN H. COOPER. 

